CitySSMCity Council was presented with the PUC Third Quarter Report on Monday night.  PUC Chair Jim Boniferro discussed plenty of positive news regarding 2015, with progress continuing with the water quality improvement and street light replacement projects.  Phase 1 of the street light project is completed with almost 24 hundred lights changed as of the end of November.  Phase 2 will start in April with the project expected to be finished at the end of September.  The second survey on the city’s water quality is finished with a presentation to council scheduled for early 2016.  The number of calls to the PUC regarding water quality also dropped significantly from 14 hundred in 2014 to 161 last year.  It was mentioned by Boniferro that there would be no increases in the water rate or for the delivery of water for 2016.  The sewer surcharge is also being reduced from 100 percent of the customer’s water bill to 62 percent.  That translates into a savings of 12 dollars a month for anyone using 15 cubic metres of water.  Even with all of the good news, there will still questions.  Councillor Susan Myers asked about the soon to be released second Ipsos-Reid water quality survey.  One specific query was about if the same residents would be surveyed or if there would be a different group of respondants.  PUC President Dominic Parella answered that this was a random telephone survey that would include representatives of each ward.  Myers has wondered that if that survey was providing the best information available and expressed that the same respondants would be preferred in answering once again.  Another highlight was how the PUC responded during the Christmas Eve power outage. Boniferro summarized the utility’s activities from mentioning the first reports of outages at 3:30 in the morning to one-third of the city in the dark at 6 a-m to power restored for everyone 12 hours later, and assisting Algoma Power with their restoration efforts.  Meantime, Councillor Steve Butland asked about an 11 percent decline in water consumption.  One reason was more bottled water being bought — something that is happening globally.  Councillor Judy Hupponen asked about the delivery rate on the water bill.  Boniferro answered that the rate was variable until now.  A ‘flat fee’ took effect this month, resulting in some customers having their rate adjusted.

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A unique presentation was made at Monday’s council meeting that could help determine future service levels in Sault Ste. Marie.  A budget tool created by the city’s I-T department was discussed where ratepayers and property owners could determine where their property taxes could be allocated the most.  The tool is used through a three step process:  by entering your assessment, distributing your property taxes by increasing or decreasing your cost in certain areas — such as public works or policing — to a maximum of 20 percent.  The final step involves the resident submitting their input, which is logged into a database which the Finance Department has access to.  People can also submit their ward or any comments if they choose.   The new amounts would be lowered or raised and given a new calculation based on last year’s assessment.  Ward 1 Councillor Paul Christian called the idea ‘a good start involving real dollars’.  But councillors Marchy Bruni and Susan Myers expressed concern about why mentioning what ward the respondant is from is only optional.  Myers feels it would give councillors an idea of what their own constituents want.

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The city will proceed with submitting an application for Connecting Link funding to the province.  The application is for 90 percent of the project — 2.3 million dollars that will go towards the widening of Black Road from McNabb Street to Third Line.  The first phase of that work would begin this spring, pending application approval. Phase 1 of the entire project would involve the widening of Black Road from McNabb Street northward for about 1 kilometre. City Engineering Manager Don Elliott mentioned that Sault Ste. Marie is one of 77 municipalities in Ontario aiming to get their share of 15 million dollars annually.  Those municipalities typically receive between 1 and a half and 2 million dollars.  Elliott added that the city has been pushing to make the Black Road widening project a priority. The focus would later shift to resurfacing sections of Second Line — from Great Northern Road to Old Garden River Road and west of North Street.